It depends. There are some things I simply don't need to know... and I'm comfortable not knowing them. If there is a reason I should know, then I prefer to be told up front. I've always been drawn to very up front people who don't hold back their thoughts because it is a characteristic I really value.
Posts by AlyMC
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45Would you rather have the truth, or your feelings spared?
by Bumble Bee inif it was me, i'd rather have the truth up front.
i went through an experience where someone didn't tell me the truth about a situation, thought that by not being totally honest, my feelings would be spared.
maybe at the time, they were, but afterwards when i found out the truth i was deeply hurt and confused.
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Most people try to do the best they can most of the time
by Gayle inas a jw we were taught most people are evil, worthy to be destroyed soon by god.
there is evilness in the world unfortunately, but now i think most people are trying their best and trying to improve, work hard and successfully, be honest, take care of their families, etc..
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AlyMC
I think this was one of the biggest realizations for my husband after leaving. The world is not evil beyond repair, he has formed truer relationships outside than he did inside. Worldly people aren't just foaming at the mouth waiting and hoping to pounce on one of Jehovah's people while they are weak to pull them away from eternal life.
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14
OK parents, let's have a little chat
by zagor ini was visiting some friends today and what struck me was complete lack of imaginations kids have today.
they get easily bored.
unless there is internet, video games or tv around they dont know how to entertain themselves.
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AlyMC
FWIW, I totally agree on the thoughts posted about education. John Taylor Gatto & Alfie Kohn are two of my favorite authors on the subject.
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14
OK parents, let's have a little chat
by zagor ini was visiting some friends today and what struck me was complete lack of imaginations kids have today.
they get easily bored.
unless there is internet, video games or tv around they dont know how to entertain themselves.
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AlyMC
I don't know, I think that every generation says this about the "youth" generation of their time. "When I was a lad..."
I think todays youth DO have an amazing imagination and drive- I see so many websites that are brilliantly created by teenagers. The photography & digital art I see coming from our youth captivates me. I see teens with small charitable projects that they developed themselves. A group of my daughters peers (she is only 6) have started up a fund raising group for Heifer international and so far purchased 6 animals. They have had to be creative in figuring out new and effective strategy. It is just a more tech driven or project aimed imagination than I remember having. Different, but not useless by any means.
It is true that our lifestyles (most of ours) are much more sterile now. We spend a lot less time out in nature trudging through streams and trying (unsuccessfully) to catch the little fish swimming through. Or stacking rocks trying to create our own dam of sorts. I do think this is sad for everyone involved- especially kids. So in that sense I really agree that a component of childhood I so fondly remember is fading. It is definitely altering the type of imagination kids today have, but I wouldn't say it is removing it completely.
All that said, my family was primarily media free until all our kids were over two. Now we have a computer but not a TV. We have taken a waldorf approach to their early childhood, and plan to enroll them in school later than societal standard. So obviously I did have concerns about their imagination and the magic of childhood. Oddly though, I am one of those parents who is cautious about who I expose my kids to. I noticed you listed that as a negative or another sample of children not being allowed to be children. For me limiting their exposure to other families who limited media influences and took their kids out to streams and forests in their young years was a choice we made to further their imagination and define a "normal" pattern of behavior.
At the same time, now that they are getting older we do have to blend the world we've created for them with society as it actually exists. So now that my kids are all over two they have access to computers and do enjoy them quite a bit. We also expect them to be self regulating, and don't put a lot of limits on it. We live in a different time for sure, but I'm not sure it is completely draining imagination from our youth. I think there have always been families which have less of an emphasis imagination and families with more of an emphasis on it... but as a whole I still have a lot of faith in the youth of our day and their creative drive.
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49
What's your sign?
by dinah inyeah, sounds really 70's....... but i really wanna know!.
i'm an aries, march 24, so i'm on the cusp of pieces.. .
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AlyMC
I'm Aquarius (cuspy on Feb 17)
I never put much thought into it until I realized that pretty much every man I've ever really been close to or really liked in my life has been a Leo. I apparently love me some Leo men.
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16
Looking back on old photos I saw Me on my last Xmas as a child
by Velvetann ini was looking at all my old photos and found this one of me on my last christmas before my parents found the "truth".
i had just turned 3. look at the joy on my face.. i feel so sad for me and now i feel so bad for all those little children born into that religion.
not just because of christmas but because there is no magical days and only days of waiting for armageddon which never comes.. anyone else feel that the children are being robbed of joy and happiness.
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AlyMC
I really agree. When I first left and decided to start celebrating I read "The Heart of a Family" (the original, not the revised!) The book talks a lot about tradition and how humans respond to it. I got the book to get ideas for traditions to begin with my own kids, but spent the entire book breaking down in tears. If you know me, it is odd... because I don't cry much at all. It was really a deep experience for such a simple book.
It really made me realize how much of a void I felt in my existence because of the lack of tradition or culture or anything really of value. When I look back at my childhood, I feel like there is just this huge void of LIFE.
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22
this is getting around JW world fast...my Elder/Dad sent it to me
by oompa inhttp://religions.pewforum.org/portraits.
i saw the news item, and was going to pass it on to dad but he beat me to it....someone had already e-mailed him about it.
his e-mail was from cnn which stated jw's are fastet growing, but also dead last in retaining those raised in that faith....yeah!
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AlyMC
OMG, 200? That is hardly enough to be a representative sample.
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41
Your Favorite Actors/ Actresses All Time - Serious or Comedy ?
by flipper infolks - since we just had the academy awards figured i'd ask this question , what actors and actresses are your all-time favs ?
lots to pick from over the many years of hollywood motion pictures !
my picks are as follows - .
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AlyMC
I am totally enamored with with Audrey Tautou. I know she hasn't been around long enough to be an "all time" favorite by most... but I hope that is to come. Dirty Pretty Things was amazing, as was hunting and gathering, of course Amelie, A Very Long Engagement. She is my personal favorite actress... I've seen like 15 of her movies but I never did see Da Vinci Code- I heard she wasn't as captivating in it. It is a shame that her most popular movie worked out that way if that is so.
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AlyMC
Relax and take it easy... I might go out with some girls for drinks one night and we might meet up with one of my DH's friends and their family at the park one day... but nothing major.
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21
Question for you born ins
by startingover inwhen i was growing up as a born in jw, i remember the fear that dfing stirred up within me.
as a kid, seeing a df'd person was quite a scary thing.
thinking back about how it was growing up, it occurred to me that at the time, i never realized that a person had to be baptized in order to be df'd.
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AlyMC
I don't remember having much of an awareness of DF'd people at a young age... but I remember friends reflecting on this as teens and talking about how afraid they were of brother so and so or sister so and so because of them being DF'd.